Reptiles can't make their own body heat. They move between warm and cool areas to regulate their temperature, so your enclosure needs a gradient: a hot basking spot on one side and a cooler area on the other.
Watch: is your reptile too hot or too cold?
Target temperatures
- Leopard gecko: basking surface about 94–97°F, cool side about 70–77°F. At night, temperatures can drop into the 60s; most homes need no night heat.
- Bearded dragon: basking surface about 105–113°F for adults, cool side about 75–85°F. At night, temperatures can drop into the 60s.
These match the target ranges in our Setup Guide and on the card in every kit.
Why overhead heat?
In the wild, heat comes from the sun above. An overhead basking lamp mimics that, warming your reptile's back deeply. Our bearded dragon kit uses halogen lamps, which add the bright light a sun-loving desert species basks under. Our leopard gecko kit uses a deep-heat infrared lamp that warms the basking spot from above, a good fit for a gecko that's most active at dawn and dusk.
Always use a thermostat
A heat lamp without a thermostat can overheat an enclosure fast. A dimming thermostat smoothly adjusts the lamp's output to hold your target temperature instead of switching it on and off. Both our kits include one: a standalone dimming thermostat with alarms in the dragon kit, and a dome with a built-in dimming thermostat in the gecko kit.
Measure two ways
- Surface temperature: use an infrared temp gun on the basking platform. This is what your reptile actually feels.
- Air temperature and humidity: use a digital probe gauge on each side of the enclosure.
Check temperatures daily for the first week, then regularly after that.
Every animal is different. If your reptile stops eating or seems lethargic, check your temperatures first, then see a reptile veterinarian.